Thursday, March 7, 2013

Thursday Threesome: '84 Transfomers

For my shot at the Thursday Threesome this week, I figured I'd pay tribute to one of my very first obsessions. The toyline that cemented my geek-status forever once they appeared on toy store shelves back in 1984. Of course, I am talking about The Robots in Disguise...The Transformers!!

IT IS A WORLD TRANSFORMED, WHERE THINGS ARE NOT WHAT THEY SEEM. IT IS
THE WORLD OF THE TRANSFORMERS...A WORLD OF HEROIC AUTOBOTS AND EVIL
DECEPTICONS!"

It's Stryder's Top 3 '84 Transformers!! Take a look after the JUMP!
Now, of course everyone knows Optimus Prime and Megatron, so I'm leaving them off the list today. Instead I want to focus on a few supporting characters in the Transformers Universe, starting with:

1. Wheeljack

Wheeljack was the crazy mad scientist of the Autobots. A nice guy who just happened to enjoy inventing wacky death-dealing weapons of mass destruction! One day he's designing a ray gun to paralyze his enemies in their tracks (that will probably explode the third time it's used) and the next he's building a Frankenstein's Monster-like body out of spare Autobot parts for mind-transfer experiments (which will probably drive someone mad, and THEN explode the third time it's used)!

Of course Wheeljack's most notable creations are the Dinobots...and they went on a rampage, nearly killing everyone and wiping out the Autobot base the first time they were activated! Hey, eventually he got MOST of the bugs ironed out...

I love this guy...voiced on the cartoon by animation's bad boy, Chris Latta, Wheeljack was the smart kid with attitude...the guy who wasn't afraid to try new things and wasn't afraid to make a few mistakes! Can't make a cyber-omelette without breaking a few proto-chicks! Wheeljack was sort of an inspiration for me...a cool nerd back before nerds were cool!

2. Cliffjumper

I never had a Bumblebee toy as a child. Instead, I had Cliffjumper...his little red counterpart. Poor Cliffjumper...he often gets lumped in with the more popular 'Bee just because their original toys shared the same transformation and a similar face. However, unlike that suck-up Bumblebee, Cliffjumper was a free spirit! If he got a chance to shoot Megatron in the face, he was darn sure gonna take it and to hell with the consequences! He's a rash and radical little dude with a big bad attitude! How's that for an 80's style sentence??

Fun Fact: Cliffjumper was voiced by the host of American Top 40 Countdown,radio icon Casey Kasem! This leads to an in-joke in the classic 1986 film Transformers: The Movie, when prior to launching their space ship, Autobot Commander Optimus Prime instructs Cliffjumper to "Begin the Countdown!" prompting Cliffjumper to start counting backwards from 10, and prompting me to start snickering...

3. Soundwave

Last buy not least, my very favourite Transformer, Soundwave! The dark and brooding first follower of Lord Megatron, is a mainstay of the Decepticon army and is truly indispensable to their cause! Look up competency or loyalty in the Cybertronian dictionary, and you may well find a picture of Soundwave. Despite being given the misleading function of "communications", and the seemingly insignificant alt-mode of "micro-cassette recorder", Soundwave (along with his "cassette minions") in reality fulfills the role of Megatron's eyes, ears and strong right arm in the Decepticon army. If any 'bot anywhere dares to speak aloud or to even THINK treacherous thoughts regarding the Decepticon cause, Soundwave will know and retaliation will be swift and merciless! Soundwave is the embodiment of the Transformers catch-phrase, a Decepticon who is certainly More than meets the eye!

Fun Fact #2: The Decepticon Faction Symbol was based on a drawing of the original Soundwave toy's face!! The Autobot version was designed based on the "Prowl" toy. True story!

So that's it for my version of the Thursday Threesome! Have a good week! Autobots, Transform, and Roll Out!!